Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T15:47:46.273Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Metal and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination at Wilkes Station, East Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 September 2014

Kirstie A. Fryirs ,
Erla G. Hafsteinsdóttir ,
Scott C. Stark  and
Damian B. Gore
Kirstie A. Fryirs*
Affiliation:
Department of Environment & Geography, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
Erla G. Hafsteinsdóttir
Affiliation:
Department of Environment & Geography, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
Scott C. Stark
Affiliation:
Environmental Protection and Change, Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Kingston, TAS 7050, Australia
Damian B. Gore
Affiliation:
Department of Environment & Geography, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The management of sediment and water contamination from legacy waste is a significant problem in Antarctica. Although several reports have noted that there are contaminated sites at the abandoned Wilkes Station, a systematic attempt to assess the spatial scale of the problem has not been made, making development of clean-up or preservation programmes difficult. A contaminated site assessment for the old Wilkes Station and surrounds is presented in this paper. The Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) sediment and water quality guidelines and background concentration levels (BCL) were used to assess the extent of contamination across Clark Peninsula. Of 67 sediment sites sampled, 72% were contaminated with at least one metal or metalloid, with values exceeding the ANZECC ISQG-High or 2 x BCL. Moreover, 19% were contaminated with four or more metals/metalloids. Of the 93 water samples collected, all but one was contaminated with at least one metal/metalloid concentration exceeding the guidelines, and 96% were contaminated with two or more metals/metalloids. For hydrocarbons in sediment and water, most samples were below quantitation limits. There is a complex pattern of contamination across Clark Peninsula that needs to be considered in future waste treatment, containment or removal operations, and for protection of heritage items.

Keywords

ANZECC guidelinesclean-up operationscontaminated siteenvironmental managementlegacy waste
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 118 - 133
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AAD. 2010. Opportunistic clean up of debris in the vicinity of Wilkes. Internal policy document. Kingston, TAS: Australian Antarctic Division.Google Scholar
ADEF. 1959. Australians accept custody of Wilkes Antarctic Station. Press release. Canberra: Australian Department of External Affairs.Google Scholar
AHC. 2011. Australian heritage database. Australian Heritage Council. Available at: http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/heritage.Google Scholar
Anon . 1994. Clean up of Wilkes. Final report of the eighteenth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Kyoto, Japan: Secretariat of the Antarctica Treaty.Google Scholar
ANZECC. 2000. Australian and New Zealand guidelines for fresh and marine water quality. Canberra: Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council/Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand, 313 pp.Google Scholar
ATCM. 2009. Management plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 136, Clark Peninsula, Budd Coast, Wilkes Land. Final report of the thirty-second Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Buenos Aires: Secretariat of the Antarctica Treaty, 12 pp.Google Scholar
Bargagli, R. 2008. Environmental contamination in Antarctic ecosystems. Science of the Total Environment, 400, 212–226.Google Scholar
Blanchette, R.A., Held, B.W., Jurgen, J.A., Aislabie, J., Duncan, S. & Farrell, R.L. 2004. Environmental pollutants from the Scott and Shackleton expeditions during the ‘Heroic Age’ of Antarctic exploration. Polar Record, 40, 143–151.Google Scholar
Camenzuli, D., Fryirs, K.A., Gore, D.B. & Freidman, B. 2014. Managing legacy waste in the presence of cultural heritage at Wilkes Station, East Antarctica. Polar Record, 10.1017/S0032247413000740.Google Scholar
Clark, L. & Wishart, E. 1989. Historical recording of Wilkes. Aurora, 9, 4–5.Google Scholar
COMNAP. 2007. Waste management in Antarctica. Proceedings of the 2006 workshop held by the COMNAP Antarctic Environmental Officers Network. Hobart, TAS: Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs.Google Scholar
Deprez, P.P., Arens, M. & Locher, H. 1999. Identification and assessment of contaminated sites at Casey Station, Wilkes Land, Antarctica. Polar Record, 35, 299–316.Google Scholar
Fryirs, K., Snape, I. & Babicka, N. 2013. The type and spatial distribution of past waste at the abandoned Wilkes Station, East Antarctica. Polar Record, 49, 328–347.Google Scholar
Gore, D.B., Revill, A.T. & Guille, D. 1999. Petroleum hydrocarbons ten years after spillage at a helipad in Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 11, 427–429.Google Scholar
Hafsteinsdóttir, E.G., White, D.A., Gore, D.B. & Stark, S.C. 2011. Products and stability of phosphate reactions with lead under freeze-thaw cycling in simple systems. Environmental Pollution, 159, 3496–3503.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennicutt, M.C., McDonald, S.J., Sericano, J.L., Boothe, P., Oliver, J., Safe, S., Presley, B.J., Liu, H., Wolfe, D., Wade, T.L., Crockett, A. & Bockus, D. 1995. Human contamination of the marine environment – Arthur Harbor and McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Environmental Science & Technology, 29, 1279–1287.Google Scholar
McMahon, F. 1967. The ANARE Station at Wilkes, Antarctica. Aurora, 6–9.Google Scholar
Mumford, K.A., Rayner, J.L., Snape, I., Stark, S.C., Stevens, G.W. & Gore, D.B. 2013. Design, installation and preliminary testing of a permeable reactive barrier for diesel fuel remediation at Casey Station, Antarctica. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 96, 96–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NEPC. 1999. National environmental protection (assessment of site contamination) measure. Schedule B1 (2013) guideline on investigation levels for soil and groundwater. Adelaide: National Environmental Protection Council Service Corporation.Google Scholar
Northcott, K.A., Snape, I., Connor, M.A. & Stevens, G.W. 2003. Water treatment design for site remediation at Casey Station, Antarctica: site characterisation and particle separation. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 37, 169–185.Google Scholar
Paul, E., Stuwe, K., Teasdale, J. & Worley, B. 1995. Structural and metamorphic geology of the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica: field evidence for repeated tectonothermal activity. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 42, 453–469.Google Scholar
Poland, J.S., Riddle, M.J. & Zeeb, B.A. 2003. Contaminants in the Arctic and the Antarctic: a comparison of sources, impacts, and remediation options. Polar Record, 39, 369–383.Google Scholar
SCAR. 2002. Guidelines for handling of pre-1958 historic remains whose existence or present location is not known. Cambridge: Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, 1 pp.Google Scholar
Scouller, R.C., Snape, I., Stark, J.S. & Gore, D.B. 2006. Evaluation of geochemical methods for discrimination of metal contamination in Antarctic marine sediments: a case study from Casey Station. Chemosphere, 65, 294–309.Google Scholar
Sheppard, D.S., Claridge, G.G.C. & Campbell, I.B. 2000. Metal contamination of soils at Scott Base, Antarctica. Applied Geochemistry, 15, 513–530.Google Scholar
Snape, I., Morris, C.E. & Cole, C.M. 2001b. The use of permeable reactive barriers to control contaminant dispersal during site rehabilitation in Antarctica. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 32, 157–174.Google Scholar
Snape, I., Gore, D.B., Cole, C.M. & Riddle, M.J. 2002. Contaminant dispersal and mitigation at Casey Station: an example of how applied geosciences research can reduce environmental risks in Antarctica. Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin, 35, 642–648.Google Scholar
Snape, I., Scouller, R.C., Stark, S.C., Stark, J., Riddle, M.J. & Gore, D.B. 2004. Characterisation of the dilute HCl extraction method for the identification of metal contamination in Antarctic marine sediments. Chemosphere, 57, 491–504.Google Scholar
Snape, I., Riddle, M.J., Stark, J.S., Cole, C.M., King, C.K., Duquesne, S. & Gore, D.B. 2001a. Management and remediation of contaminated sites at Casey Station, Antarctica. Polar Record, 37, 199–214.Google Scholar
Stark, J.S., Snape, I. & Riddle, M.J. 2006. Abandoned Antarctic waste disposal sites: monitoring remediation outcomes and limitations at Casey Station. Ecological Management & Restoration, 7, 21–31.Google Scholar
Stark, J.S., Riddle, M.J., Snape, I. & Scouller, R.C. 2003b. Human impacts in Antarctic marine soft-sediment assemblages: correlations between multivariate biological patterns and environmental variables. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, 56, 717–734.Google Scholar
Stark, J.S., Snape, I., Riddle, M.J. & Stark, S.C. 2005. Constraints on spatial variability in soft-sediment communities affected by contamination from an Antarctic waste disposal site. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 50, 276–290.Google Scholar
Stark, S.C., Gardner, D., Snape, I. & McIvor, E. 2003a. Assessment of contamination by heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons at Atlas Cove Station, Heard Island. Polar Record, 39, 397–414.Google Scholar
Stark, S.C., Snape, I., Graham, N.J., Brennan, J.C. & Gore, D.B. 2008. Assessment of metal contamination using x-ray fluorescence spectrometry and the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) during remediation of a waste disposal site in Antarctic. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 10, 60–70.Google Scholar
Tin, T., Fleming, Z.L., Hughes, K.A., Ainley, D.G., Convey, P., Moreno, C.A., Pfeiffer, S., Scott, J. & Snape, I. 2009. Impacts of local human activities on the Antarctic environment. Antarctic Science, 21, 3–33.Google Scholar
Townsend, A.T. & Snape, I. 2002. The use of Pb isotope ratios determined by magnetic sector ICP-MS for tracing Pb pollution in marine sediments near Casey Station, East Antarctica. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 17, 922–928.Google Scholar
Townsend, A.T. & Snape, I. 2008. Multiple Pb sources in marine sediments near the Australian Antarctic Station, Casey. Science of the Total Environment, 389, 466–474.Google Scholar
Townsend, A.T., Snape, I., Palmer, A.S. & Seen, A.J. 2009. Lead isotopic signatures in Antarctic marine sediment cores: a comparison between 1 M HCl partial extraction and HF total digestion pre-treatments for discerning anthropogenic inputs. Science of the Total Environment, 408, 382–389.Google Scholar
White, D.A., Hafsteinsdóttir, E.G., Gore, D.B., Thorogood, G. & Stark, S.C. 2012. Formation and stability of Pb-, Zn- & Cu-PO4 phases at low temperatures: implications for heavy metal fixation in polar environments. Environmental Pollution, 161, 143–153.Google Scholar
Woinarski, A.Z., Snape, I., Stevens, G.W. & Stark, S.C. 2003. The effects of cold temperature on copper ion exchange by natural zeolite for use in permeable reactive barriers in Antarctica. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 37, 159–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar